Chapter 18
Cam blinked at the group of testosterone-filled men then fixed her attention on Brooks. His jaw remained in a hard, unmoving state, and heat pulsated off his body. Part of her hoped he’d give up his pursuit of Conrad. Going against armed guards wasn’t the brightest idea, especially with Brooks’s penchant for vengeance. But she knew it wouldn’t stop him.
“Give me the address,” Brooks said. “I’ll take it from here.”
Nash snorted. “You think I’m scared of a few rent-a-cops? Not a chance. Pretty sure I can speak for everyone.”
Cole sat in one of the chairs. “Piece of cake.”
Dare shrugged. “I’m good, too.”
Cole pinned Dare and Nash with his gaze, his lips tilted in what could pass for either a snarl or amusement. Gosh, he was scary. “Tess and Lexi would tan your asses if they knew what you were planning.”
Dare popped a cherry tomato in his mouth. “You’re just mad ’cause you’re alone all the time.”
Cole’s eyes blazed fire.
“Okay,” Cam said, clapping her hands to change the subject before the guys got heated. “How do you plan to get to Conrad with guards in the way? Dare, did you happen to find out how many men he has on watch at a time?”
Dare swiveled his gaze away from his seething brother. “Yeah. Two during the day and three at night.”
Cam lifted a shoulder. “I know squat about assassinating someone, but four against three sounds like good odds.”
Brooks roared with laughter, Nash threw his head back, Dare chuckled, and even Cole cracked a smile. Butterflies beat in Cam’s stomach. Not that she cared that these guys thought she was funny, but part of her wanted to be accepted by Brooks’s family. She wasn’t going to examine that need right now, but at least they liked the food and she hadn’t made an ass of herself yet.
If someone had told her a week ago that in a matter of days, she’d be discussing how to plan a murder, she would have died laughing. She’d become someone so foreign to herself it made her uneasy. At the same time, she wouldn’t trade knowing Brooks to have her old life back.
“All right.” Nash stood. “We’ve got a few hours to go over the blueprints and drone footage. Better get started.”
Brooks guffawed. “Holy shit. How’d you get all that so soon?”
Nash clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I told you, he’s a whizz with some things. Dumb as a bag of hammers with others.”
Dare shoved his brother. “You’re such a moron.”
“What’s Lexi doing?” Brooks asked, his voice weighty.
Cam lifted her chin to examine his face. Strain lined his eyes, and she was reminded of the hard news he’d received about his parents. God, how she wished she could relieve some of his pain. He’d carried the news well, but assessing someone’s state based on how they were acting was next to impossible. He’d probably buried a lot of feelings that only a great deal of mental work and therapy would uncover. After all of this, she’d make sure he sought help—even if they parted ways.
“She had some work to catch up on, and then Tess is going over to keep her company,” Nash said. He cocked his head. “Sorry. You guys have probably learned so many new names since you got here. Tess is Dare’s fiancée.”
“Is Dallas married?” Cam asked.
Cole dropped his head back, suggesting that the talk of relationships would bore him to death. Ignoring him, she looked pointedly at Nash and Dare.
Nash shook his head. “Nope. Dallas is a free agent. It’s better that way.” He stood and jerked his head at Brooks. “Come help us bring in the stuff.”
Cam furrowed her brow as the brothers got up and left. Brooks swept his hand around her hip and kissed her temple. “Hang in there. We’re almost through this.” His hand fell away, and her skin turned cold without his presence. She watched his back retreat from the room and then headed to the door.
Nash hauled a bag out of the back of his truck and tossed it to Dare. Next, he handed an industrial-looking black briefcase to Cole before passing a duffel bag to Brooks. Finally, he retrieved a backpack and hooked it over his shoulder. Dare climbed the steps, and she backed up as he entered.
“Where can we put this stuff?” He scanned the tight foyer.
“Second bedroom upstairs is the office,” Nash called from the steps.
Brooks had said he didn’t want her around the planning, but what the heck was she supposed to do? Twiddle her thumbs? Clean the kitchen? It wasn’t every day she got to experience a logistics meeting of this magnitude, and the food attached to the plates would wait until she had nothing better to do.
By the time Cam had reached the bedroom, Nash had the blueprints laid out. Dare unpacked rope, bulletproof vests, some kind of mini-microphone set, and various gadgets she couldn’t name. Dropping into the chair in the corner of the room, she watched, transfixed. She should have been disgusted. Freaked out at the very least. And she was, to some degree, but more about the safety of the men in the room than the ones guarding the soulless elite who’d stolen Brooks’s freedom.
“Are you going to kill the guards, too?” The question popped from her mouth in the hushed space.
Brooks stilled and Nash looked up from the blueprints. “That would be best but would also draw more attention. We’ll figure that out before we leave.”
Cole’s icy, calculating eyes surveyed her from behind the desk. “Should she be here for this?” His gravelly tone changed the air in the room. She curled her toes into the carpet. Cole’s distrustful gaze didn’t waver.
“Man,” Brooks said, his voice firm. “She’s with me.”
Cole’s hard cheeks softened only a little. “Sorry,” he said to her. “Just being careful.”
She shrugged. “No offense taken.” Although his suspicion cut through her.
“Don’t mind him,” Nash said with a snicker. “He doesn’t even trust me that much, and I’m his brother.”
“You also need to grow up—I think you stopped maturing at twenty-five,” Cole shot back in the longest sentence he’d said so far.
Cam hid her smirk. The guys were intimidating, especially Cole, but their exchanges were entertaining.
“That’s not what Lexi says,” Nash jeered.
“Hey,” Brooks snarled.
“Ah, shit. My bad.” Nash raised his hands near his ears. “Fuck, it’s going to be hard to remember you’ll be my brother-in-law soon. Damn.”
The tension in the room settled as they laid out their plan. Cam watched, needing the distraction. Her mind pulled in every direction, part of her sick with worry about Isaac and her mom on their way—to see her. To do god knew what. Settle the score of some kind, and if Isaac didn’t get his pound of flesh, he’d take it out on Linda. Brooks was physically capable of protecting them, but Isaac was calculating and conniving. Despite his poor choices, Isaac wasn’t stupid. The other part of her was terrified for Brooks. No matter what happened, she had to stay strong. At least until her mom was safe.
After a couple of hours, she went downstairs to clean up the mess and then brought up drinks for everyone. Even Cole thanked her as she handed him a glass of water.
“Put this in your ear,” Nash said, tossing Brooks a small bud.
Brooks popped it in, and Nash ran a test to check the sound. Anxiety pressed against Cam’s temples. She took a sip of her water, and kept her eyes glued to Brooks.
“All good,” Brooks said. “What time do you have?” he asked, directing the question to Nash.
Nash flicked his wrist. “It’s 7:32 p.m.”
“We should pack up. I’d like to scope the place out before we hit.” Cole’s deep, unfazed voice sent fear scurrying through her.
She couldn’t let Brooks get caught—or worse, killed. She gripped his arm. He frowned down at her, concern knitting his brows together.
“Please don’t do this,” she whispered.
Brooks’s eyes darkened. The room became unusually quiet, and one quick flick of her gaze told her everyone but Nash held a look of wariness.
Dare stood. “We’ll give you guys a minute.” He jerked his head toward the hall. Nash rose and followed him out. Cole moved begrudgingly and shut the door behind him.
“What’s going on? You knew my plan from the beginning.” Brooks’s shortness stung.
Dang it, she was getting too sensitive. “I know. But seeing you get ready to leave... I might not see you again.” She hated the squeak in her voice, but it couldn’t be helped. Not with the blanket of desperation clinging to her. Stepping closer, she pressed her hands to his chest. She summoned a breath and stared into his eyes. “I’m coming with you.”
A dark tint crept over his cheekbones.
I’ve completely lost my mind.
***
Brooks opened hishand on Cam’s back. As irritated as he was about her change of direction, he couldn’t not touch her when she was so close. Then her words punched through his senses.
“No.” He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
She pinched her lips, and annoyance flared in her eyes. “What, you don’t think I’m capable of going on a mission with a group of guys?”
He slapped his palm to his forehead and fought the grumble in his throat. He didn’t have time for antics or bickering. “No, it’s not that. I don’t want you going on a murder mission with anyone.”
She removed her hands from his chest and folded her arms under her breasts. The action tightened the material over her nipples, and his cock responded without a care in the world about the irritation going on upstairs.
She stomped her foot, just missing his toes. “And what am I supposed to do if you don’t come back, hmm? I can’t call the police. I can’t call Nash or his brothers because they could be dead along with you. I’ll call your sister, but I’m sure she won’t sit around and wait either.”
He gripped her shoulders. “It’s dangerous, you’re right. But you coming along isn’t going to make it any less so. Actually, I’ll be even more distracted worrying about you.”
The blaze in her eyes diminished. Her shoulders relaxed under the weight of his palms. She lifted her knuckle and massaged the space between her eyes. “Fine.”
He caught her chin. “You that worried about me?” He didn’t hide the amusement that raised his tone a full octave.
She shoved at his waist and he grunted. “Of course I am.”
He brushed his lips over hers. If he lingered another second, Nash and his brothers would be waiting a long time. “Good. Then you’ll be happy to see me when I get home.”
“Can we get the show on the road?” Nash called from behind the closed door.
He grinned. “You heard him.”
Moving away from Cam, he went to the door. And damn if it didn’t feel like he’d severed his arm.
***
“What’s taking solong?” Two hours after they’d left the house, Brooks dropped his head to the back seat of Nash’s truck. With Dare in the front and Cole beside him in the back, the extended cab was tighter than a glove. He shifted back and forth, and his numb ass cheeks ached in protest. They sat parked at the green space that separated Conrad’s back yard from a side street.
“Yeah, I gotta take a leak,” Cole growled.
“Do you guys want to go in there with a sniper on your head or do you want me to find out their routine?” Dare grumbled. “You should know how long surveillance takes, Cole.”
“I don’t do a whole lot of it. I run off instinct.”
Brooks’s attention was piqued. “What do you do?”
The musty air in the vehicle turned cold. Silence ticked by. Brooks swept his gaze from his brother-in-law to Cole. “Is it a secret or something?”
Dare laughed.
Cole leaned forward and swung the back of his hand, but Dare ducked out of the way. “Dummy.”
Nash turned in his seat. “Dare, stay focused. I’d like to get home tonight.” He turned his attention to Brooks. “There’s some things you don’t want to know about us just yet. Cole especially—”
“What’s the matter with you?” Cole muttered. He looked at Brooks. “No offense, but I’ve known you like five minutes.”
“Yeah,” Nash said. “And he’s family. So cut the shit.”
Cole settled in his seat and Nash refocused on Brooks. “Rule number one in any event we’re in on together—consider Cole a ghost. He was never here. You don’t know his name. As far as you know, these are the only brothers I have. Got it?”
Brooks’s throat tightened. He wasn’t a saint. Didn’t give a shit about the law except when it came to not hurting the innocent. The drug had placed that value a little out of reach, but that wasn’t something he could think about right now. Curiosity still tugged at him, but he figured it wasn’t wise to press further at the moment. He raised a hand in surrender. “Fine by me.”
“All right,” Dare said. “I got it. One guard is stationed inside. Let’s call him guard number one. I can’t see much through the windows with the drone, but the indoor cameras I hacked into show him walking the main floor. Guards number two and three are outside. Numbers one and two already took their breaks. Guard number three should be on his any minute. If we wait until he leaves his post, it looks like we can get in through a side entrance.” He craned his neck to look in the back seat. “Brooks, you and Nash go in. Cole and I will keep lookout from the backyard.”
“We’ll have to kill guards one and two first.” Cole’s stone-cold declaration boomed through the tight space.
Dare turned in his seat. “If we can get in undetected—”
“No.” Cole cracked his knuckles, one at a time. “All it will take is one wrong move for the three of them to come bearing down on us.”
“Vote,” Nash said. “Raise your hand if you want to kill the guards first.”
Cole’s hand lifted. Brooks kept his palms on his knees. Both Nash and Dare checked the back seat, their hands not raised.
“It’s settled then,” Nash said. “We don’t kill unless we have to. Don’t sulk, Cole.”
“I’m not fucking sulking. It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s you three bozos getting shot in the head or someone seeing your ugly faces.”
Brooks guffawed. He wasn’t the most experienced in this world, but his life over the last eight months surely rivaled all three of theirs. “I’ll take my chances.”
Nash reached into the back seat and dug inside his backpack. “That’s why I got everyone a ski mask.” He tossed a ball of material at Brooks, then passed one each to Dare and Cole.
Brooks fit it on top of his head so it would be easy to pull down when they got close. The rest of the guys did the same.
Dare circled his index finger in the air. “Third guard has left his post and looks like he’s heading to his car out front. Put your earpieces in and let’s go.”
They exited the car and marched over the green space leading to Conrad’s mansion. Their footsteps wisped through the grass. Moths and lightning bugs fluttered in the moonlight. Tension radiated along Brooks’s nerve endings. He’d waited more than eight months to get revenge. To bring his parents’ killer to justice. He hadn’t yet given himself time to grieve, but that moment would come when he had the freedom to visit their graves.
“Did you cut the cameras?” Nash asked Dare quietly.
“Not yet. I’ll do it when we get close to the door. I want us to have more time to get out before they notice. We can stay hidden as long as we stick to the east side.”
Brooks reached the wrought-iron fence first. Bending down, he linked his fingers together, palms upward, and offered the makeshift step to Dare. Dare stepped into his palm, and Brooks hoisted him over. Nash went over next, then Cole. Standing, Brooks gripped the bars. He hauled himself up and over and landed on his feet.
“Shit,” Cole wheezed. “How’d you get over so easily?”
Brooks lifted a shoulder. “Long story.”
Dare watched him curiously, but Nash let out a barely audible laugh. “Let’s go. Side door is to the east.” He nodded ahead. A line of cedars bordered the property’s east and west sides, offering privacy.
Brooks rolled down his ski mask, and the other guys followed suit. Then they hustled, sandwiched between the trees and the fence, Dare in the lead. He held up his fist. “Camera,” he said, pointing behind the branches of a tree. He pulled a device out of his pocket and tapped the screen. “Cameras are disabled.”
Brooks rushed forward, Nash right behind him. He grabbed the door handle, but it was locked. Nash dropped to his knees and inserted the tools from a lock-pick set. In three turns, the metal clicked. Without a word, Nash entered.
The warmth of his own breath bounced off the knit material covering Brooks’s face. There was only a small hole for his mouth. The cool metal of his gun sat heavy at the small of his back. He pulled it out, holding his finger near the trigger and pointing the weapon at the ground. Brooks moved in front of Nash, not turning to see how close he stayed behind him. He had one mission: kill the man who had enslaved him. This was his war now. Visualizing the blueprints, he moved to the end of the hall and paused. The scuff of Nash’s shoes on the floor reached his ears. Nash’s shoulder brushed Brooks’s, but he didn’t pass him.
“Where’s guard number one?” Brooks whispered into the mic clipped onto the cuff of his sleeve.
“Living room, on the phone,” Dare said briskly. “You have a clear path to the stairs if you go fast.”
Brooks pushed away from the wall and turned left down the hall. The staircase loomed. The layout played in his mind. Across from the staircase was the dining room and kitchen. The living room was beyond that. He ascended the stairs. One glance over his shoulder showed Nash hurrying behind him. When he reached the second level, Brooks paused. Nothing but quiet reached his ears.
He pressed on. His heart pumped methodically in his chest. Each beat brought him closer and closer to his target. Nash’s hand rested on his shoulder, anchoring him. Brooks stopped as his gaze landed on the strip of yellow beneath the door that had to be the master bedroom. The drug pulled at his mind. Even though he hadn’t been injected in days, his brain fired off the kind of adrenaline that rushed through him just before one of Leonetti’s tests.
“Listen.” Nash’s quiet voice wrapped around him, preventing him from following his instincts screaming Charge!
Blood pushed through his vessels, ordering him to move. A filmy curtain closed around his vision. No sounds came from the bedroom.
“Guys, we need to hurry,” Dare said. “You’ve got about eight minutes before guard number three returns. Less if guard one spots the cameras.”
Brooks stalked forward, grabbed the cool handle in his palm, and pushed open the door. His gaze fell to a mound in the bed. A man catapulted into a sitting position, his hand pressed down beside him on the hill of blankets. “What the—”
Memories streaked through his brain, rapidly filling in the blanks in his mind. Conrad.
Conrad’s eyes bulged. His bare chest glistened under the light from his bedside lamp. Tousled, graying brown hair sat on his head. His familiar brown eyes bore into Brooks, pummeling him with images: Conrad at his parents’ kitchen table, laughing with Brooks’s dad. Sitting in a large auditorium listening to Lionsgate’s teachings. Conrad on stage, welcoming Brooks to the Lionsgate family.
Then the heat of fire on Brooks’s face as he raced into his burning childhood home. Being shocked with a stun gun. Fading in and out of sleep as he was laid on the floor of a utility van. Conrad’s face smiling down at him from the passenger’s seat before he blacked out.
Brooks lifted the mask. He needed Conrad to know who was ending his life.
Fury faded to terror on Conrad’s face. His skin was the shade of milk. “Brooks?”
“You sonofabitch!” Brooks aimed and fired.
Crack!
Conrad jerked, his hand clutching his heart. Blood splattered from the man’s chest and leaked through his fingers to stain the bedding.
A woman’s screams permeated the air. The blankets flung from the bed, revealing a half-naked woman.
Shit.